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Does anyone ever want to finish a good book?
- Jhanya&Ria's Corner
- Jul 2, 2022
- 10 min read
"You're in books. Of course you don't have a life. None of us do. There's always something too good to read." – Charlie Lastra
Book Lovers
Emily Henry
Bookstores, Amazon Kindle, Audible
03 May 2022
377 Pages
Synopsis:
One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Content Warning: sexual content
Table of Contents:
First Impressions
Ria: Emily Henry has been a pretty great author in my book, having liked her novels People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read. This is why I’ve been looking forward to Book Lovers. And then it was released and I just heard so many great reviews and raves on the book that I became so hyped and excited to read the book. But I couldn’t read it immediately when it was released or even when I acquired the book because of university stuff, so I promised myself I’d read it during my beach vacation, and I did. And this is where I will establish that I love this book. This is not part of my “favorite books” list and is by far Emily Henry’s best book, for me.
Jhanya: I’ve been waiting for this book more than People We Meet On Vacation because, from the title alone, I already knew I was gonna love this new book by Emily Henry. And thankfully, it did meet expectations.
Book Lovers tells us about the story of Nora, a hardworking city lover, and badass book agent that has been left by her past boyfriends for the usual hometown country women that love to bake and spend time with farm animals. When her sister Libby suggests that they have a getaway to Sunshine Falls, a small town based on their favorite book, with a list of fun things to do, Nora reluctantly joins her and tries to find her own sweet hometown love story. However, she doesn’t meet the hot farmboy/lumberjack and instead meets Charlie, a fierce book editor from the city as well.
Story, Themes, and Pacing
Ria: What I love most about the plot of Book Lovers is that it was able to mix different themes into one and weave them into a story that’s absolutely captivating. We got to see the different aspects of Nora’s life in the perfect amount and in the perfect sense.
Jhanya: Emily Henry finally gives us more information and stories about the side characters and I love it. With this book, she was able to incorporate multiple plot lines into one cohesive story, while still focusing the whole thing on our main couple. The pacing honestly was a bit slow throughout the whole book, but it wasn’t bad because it helped flesh the characters a lot more even though the whole book is only from Nora’s perspective. Henry was also able to write about life more intricately which helped us connect with the characters better than in the past books.
If there’s one thing I always look forward to in Emily Henry’s books, it’s the fun banter and the romance. I’m not entirely convinced that this is an enemies-to-lovers story because our MCs were never really enemies, to begin with??? But anyway, the way she wrote Nora and Charlie’s story has to be my favorite out of all her books so far. She made use of their careers and strong personalities to come up with entertainingly witty discourse and sizzling chemistry that made it hard to put the book down. How she also highlighted the flaws of the MCs and created a connection and understanding between them has me swooning and feeling giddy just thinking about it.
Ria: The romance is top tier. enough said. The banter in this book is absolutely phenomenal!! The banter kept the reader in and it was so engaging that I couldn’t stop. Second, the tension and chemistry between Nora and Charlie. Just top tier. I’m literally remembering it right now and I’m feeling the butterflies OMG
The book also tells a wonderful story of sisterhood and family and this was mainly seen in Nora and Libby’s relationship and slightly in Charlie’s family dynamic. I love how the book touched on an issue about being orphaned and having to step up and take care of the family from a woman’s perspective. Often, we see an older brother stepping up, but here, we have Nora having to grow up suddenly so quickly. It was a great topic to touch on. And for Charlie, we also see how he takes responsibility for his family despite showing his obvious misery on going back to the small town. It gives people two perspectives on how one can take care of family and I love how it was executed.
Jhanya: The family aspect of the book was a very welcome surprise, to be honest. We got a bit of it in Beach Read with January’s dad and all, but in this book, Henry highlighted Nora, Libby, and their mom’s relationship a lot which tugged on my heartstrings multiple times. Like Ria said, Book Lovers touched on the story of how Nora had to quickly grow up and take care of Libby after their mother passed away. And though some people may not have liked it based on what I saw in other reviews, I liked the angst of it all as it gave Nora more depth and made me want to just give her a big hug countless times in the book. This part of the book also gave the unexpected moment that I did not see coming even though it was right there in front of my face hahahaha I was legit thinking it was something else.
Another aspect of the story which I loved was how it didn’t have to change the ambitious and hardworking personality of Nora for her to achieve her dreams and be happy with her life. Henry showed that women can also be obsessed with their work and it’s not something to be ashamed of or considered a personal flaw.
Ria: I agree with Jhanya, and not talking about this is just a crime when it comes to this book. The theme of chasing one’s dreams is something I related to so much. Nora is clear on what she wants to do and never stops being the best in her career. She is driven, focused, and that’s what I love about her. Despite that, she shows how even being in one’s thirties, chasing one’s dreams is still ongoing. I just really love the hope it gives to everyone who’s trying to find their passion and achieve it!
Writing Style
Ria: I did a comment around near the end of the book and it says “I’m literally listening to happy, upbeat songs, but I’m crying because of what I’m reading.” That pretty much sums up how much I loved Emily Henry’s writing in this book. I think it is the best I’ve read from her. The writing gave me the extra cherry on top of how much I loved this book. It not only hooked me, but it got me feeling so many emotions despite the external factors I was in (environment, music, etc.). Again, for me, the best writing I’ve read from her!!
Jhanya: I honestly think that Book Lovers is Emily Henry’s best work yet and an upgraded version of Beach Read when it comes to writing. As I’ve mentioned before, Henry’s ability and ways to depict life in her writing are really just *chef's kiss*. The interactions between the different characters and events happening feel so real and not forced. The book also didn’t take itself as seriously as it should and instead chose to poke fun at Hallmark movies that 99% of the time consist of small-town love stories. The fact that she put together two city lovers who were stuck together in a small town was hilariously entertaining. And despite the multiple events that happened one after the other during the story, it was very satisfying to see how Henry tied together all the plot points in the end as it made sense for all the characters involved.
Characters
Ria: Emily Henry has a way of fleshing out her characters so well and that’s one of the best parts of her books. Book Lovers was no exception.
Jhanya: I honestly think that Nora and Charlie are the best MCs Henry created thus far. They had the most depth and best lines in all her books. But maybe that’s just me relating to all the book-related quotes they’ve said (/jk)
Ria: Nora is one of my favorite girl boss characters and I love her strong personality and her drive to succeed in her career. I actually saw myself in that part of her which is why I have a special attachment to Nora. However, I do think she’s become overprotective over her sister and was stuck seeing her as a child and not an adult who can actually take care of herself. And I get how this is the flaw in her character and the development we will see in Nora, and I do appreciate that. I just think that for Nora to be shown as very rational and logical and lives with purpose, there might’ve been some parts that might’ve been too unlike Nora in how she treated Libby.
Jhanya: Nora Stephens has to be the character I have related to the most in all of Henry’s stories. Her character was so complex and relatable that there were parts in the story where I would feel bad and cry with her. She had her flaws which made her feel like a real person and the way she thinks made sense for her personality all throughout the book. Her character as a whole was refreshing even though it wasn’t something new because Henry was able to give her so much depth that I’m sure a lot of the readers saw themselves in her.
Ria: And now let’s talk about Libby. I gave this book a 9.75 because I subtracted 0.25 from characters and that’s mainly due to Nora and Libby’s relationship, but mainly, I had a bit of a problem with Libby’s lack of communication with her sister. I had a hard time really liking Libby because I really really hate lack of communication. I don’t understand how someone can understand what another person wants if they don’t communicate. And I felt the strain in their relationship from the start and given Nora’s thoughts and her actions and her asking Libby what’s going on, I saw a lot of opportunities for Libby to tell Nora what she feels, but no. So although Nora did contribute to their strained relationship, I think Libby has a slightly larger contribution to it.
Jhanya: I kind of agree with Ria on the lack of communication, but at the same time I understand Libby’s point of view and that she’s scared of telling Nora the truth because she’s also unsure of how she will react. Also, based on their past, it’s only natural for Libby to feel guilty about always being Nora’s #1 priority in the world even though both of them are already full-grown adults. I won’t expound more on this topic because I’ll be spoiling it already, but I just want to say that I can honestly see it happening to a person in real life.
Ria: Lastly, we can’t move on from characters without mentioning Charlie Lastra. I love him. That’s it. I am in love and I want a Charlie Lastra. PERIOD. He’s not perfect but that’s the best thing about him. I love his character and personality and I love how from the start it’s already obvious he cares for Nora. Individually, I love the plot and problem he’s dealing with and I really love how he dealt with it. I should stop here, else I’ll be writing more paragraphs of me just gushing over him.
Jhanya: Charlie Lastra. Where have you been all my life? xD Unlike Gus and Alex (who I also loved btw), Charlie was obvious that he cared for Nora from the moment they met in town. He also didn’t beat around the bush much which I liked a lot. He was straightforward and didn’t hold back anything when talking with Nora and it really helped the both of them form a connection at the beginning. The way Charlie also encouraged Nora to further pursue her dreams was just heartwarming to see and made all of us love him even more than we already do. The fact that he also had his own family problems and flaws gave his character even more depth compared to the author’s previous works.
Have I mentioned that I love him? Yeah? Well, I’m just gonna say again that I absolutely do.
Final Thoughts
Ria: After all that, it is safe to say I loved loved LOVED this book. I got the biggest book hangover this book and I couldn’t read the next book because I was not over Book Lovers yet and I just really couldn’t let Nora and Charlie go. Go read this now.
Jhanya: And here I thought Emily Henry's writing couldn't get any better. Definitely my favorite book of hers to date. Yes. Over Beach Read and I'm both devastated and happy just thinking about it. Like I said in all of our previous Emily Henry Reviews, I highly recommend reading this book to everyone. It’s fun, romantic, witty, and has good writing. What else do you need? Go read Book Lovers NOW.
Rating
Criteria | Jhanya | Ria |
|---|---|---|
Story / Plot (2) | 2 | 2 |
Characters (2) | 2 | 1.75 |
Writing (2) | 2 | 2 |
Morale (1) | 1 | 1 |
Originality (1) | 0.75 | 1 |
Relevance (1) | 1 | 1 |
Reread Value (1) | 1 | 1 |
TOTAL | 9.75 | 9.75 |
Final Score | 9.75 | |
FINAL RATING:
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